Blizzard of 2013: Braintree Info Center

UPDATE 4:30 p.m.: Braintree After School Enrichment shared this info on Facebook this afternoon:

"Braintree Public Schools have a ONE HOUR DELAY on Tuesday, February 12th. What this means for our MORNING BASE families that have MORNING BASE at the elementary schools is an 8AM opening. THIS APPLIES TO MORNING BASE AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ONLY. 8 AM opening at Highlands, Hollis, Liberty, Ross, Morrison and Hollis morning BASE. Our Preschool runs as normal as does our kindergarten surround and private kindergarten programs."

UPDATE 4 p.m.: BHS hockey schedule update:

Braintree will host Weymouth in Boys Ice Hockey on Tuesday, February 12th at 5:40 pm, at Zapustas Arena.

In Girls Ice Hockey, Braintree will travel to Weymouth on Thursday, February 14 at 4 pm, at Connell Rink.

UPDATE Monday 3:30 p.m.: Braintree schools will be delayed one hour on Tuesday and there will be alternate bus routes: http://braintree.patch.com/articles/braintree-schools-delayed-one-hour-tuesday

ALSO: An update from this morning on plowing and weekend outages: http://braintree.patch.com/articles/street-clearing-ongoing-in-braintree-after-beastly-blizzard

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UPDATE 5:03 p.m.: BELD on Twitter: "We now have only isolated outages, which crews are addressing. If you haven't called us (781.348.2353) about your specific issue, plz do."

B.A.S.E. on Facebook: "B.A.S.E. will be open tomorrow, Monday, February 11th. Please be extremely careful in our parking lot as it may be icy and the snow banks are high. Our hours for Monday will be 7am - 6:30pm. If any unforeseen issues arise due to the storm, we will notify you as soon as possible. Please come with SNOW GEAR!"

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: BELD on Twitter: "We are now troubleshooting pockets of smaller outages throughout town. Thanks for remaining patient with this massive winter event."

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Mayor Joseph Sullivan reports that the widespread and intermittent power outages Braintree has been experiencing Sunday are the result of problems with an NSTAR transmission line that feeds into the Watson Power Station off Quincy Avenue.

"BELD is working on it," Sullivan said.

The South Shore Plaza is also closing because of the outages.

The mayor also said that crews are plowing side streets now, some of which have not been touched since Friday night. The town hopes to clear all public roads by Sunday night, though some of the smaller side streets are difficult to access, Sullivan said.

In a couple instance, trucks have broken down because of the volume of the snow.

"When you get to a storm of that magnitude you do have equipment failures," Sullivan said. "We pushed through... Friday night and Saturday were some very challenging times."

Town Hall will be open tomorrow. Thayer Library may open, depending on conditions.

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UPDATE 2:15 p.m.: Updates to Braintree sports schedules this week: http://braintree.patch.com/articles/blizzard-shifts-braintree-sports-schedules-this-week

Also, it appears from reports on social media that power is out to the entire South Shore Plaza as well as other areas of town. BELD has reported it is working on the outages. Look here for an update on the Plaza as it becomes available.

UPDATE 11:45 a.m.: Superintendent Dr. Peter Kurzberg reports no school on Monday: http://patch.com/A-1N7N

UPDATE 11:22 a.m.: BELD reports on Twitter, "Widespread outage right now. Crews working on it, should be less than an hour. Thanks for patience (again)!"

UPDATE 10:55 a.m.: On the heels of that previous update, the Braintree police just confirmed that there is now an outage going on, and it appears widespread.

UPDATE Sunday 10:25 a.m.: The town-wide parking ban has been lifted.

BELD GM Bill Bottiggi reports:

"Everyone was back with power yesterday evening. We had a couple of short transmission outages that caused everyone in Town to loose power at one time or another. Overall things went very well for us. Our employees did a great job responding."

BELD will have more info on Monday.

The South Shore Plaza announced it is open for regular hours (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) today.

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UPDATE 1 p.m. Feb. 9: From the Plaza, "South Shore Plaza will be closed today.  We will keep media up to date with any additional information throughout the day including the opening status for tomorrow. Please check Emerald Square Mall’s Facebook page for updates as well."

Also Gov. Patrick just announced that the travel ban will end at 4 p.m. today.

UPDATE: FEB. 9:
South Shore Plaza will not open at their regularly scheduled 10am opening time due to the impact of the storm. The malls do anticipate to possibly re-open for business later today, Saturday 2/9. Should that be the case, more information will be posted when it becomes available.

Any updates or changes will be posted as soon as a decision is made on the malls’ Facebook page – that’s the most up-to-date place to check as well as calling the shopping line for the malls, Twitter and Simon.com.

UPDATE: BELD reports: 8:50 pm: Birch St-Angela Rd area is experiencing an outage. We are working to restore service as quickly as possible.

Storrs-Academy area is experiencing an outage. We are working to restore service as quickly as possible.

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The Braintree Community Youth Center Volunteer Information and Open House Night scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to Saturday, March 9th.

BELD reports: 5:50 p.m.: The Middle St area will experience a ~30 minute outage while we work to address a downed tree limb. Tx for your patience!"

UPDATE: The South Shore Plaza closed at 2 p.m.

From the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency:

"A ban on motor vehicle travel beginning at 4:00 PM today and continuing until further notice has been issued. There are exceptions for public safety vehicles and public safety workers, including contract personnel; public works vehicles and public works workers, including contract personnel; government officials conducting official business; utility company vehicles and utility workers; healthcare workers who must travel to and from work in order to provide essential health services; news media; travel necessary to maintain and deliver critical private sector services such as energy, fuel supplies and delivery, financial systems and the delivery of critical commodities; travel to support business operations that provide critical services to the public, including gasoline stations, food stores and hardware stores."

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UPDATE: Gov. Deval Patrick has banned all non-essential vehicle traffic as of 4 p.m. today.

AMC announced on Twitter that many of its theatres, including Braintree, will not open on Saturday.

From the Braintree Police Department: "Parking Ban Update: municipal lots CAN be used in the event you don't have a driveway or multiple cars. N and S Braintree Sq & Watson Park"

The public lot in the Landing can be used as well, police say.

Follow the BPD on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BraintreePolice

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UPDATE: The town has established a shelter at the Department of Elder Affairs, the Archdiocese has released a statement on staying safe and residents are stocking up on supplies. Read more about it here:

http://braintree.patch.com/articles/with-snow-starting-to-fall-braintree-establishes-shelter-residents-stock-up

Also, Eastern Bank has announced that all of its branches will close at noon Friday.

UPDATE Friday 8:40 a.m.: Town Hall and Thayer Public Library will close at 12 p.m. today. The library will also be closed on Saturday, Feb. 9.

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UPDATE: Braintree After School Enrichment has also cancelled for tomorrow.

At this evening's press conference on Beacon Hill, Gov. Deval Patrick announced that the MBTA will stop service Friday at 3:30 p.m.

As of a little after 5 p.m., several people on Twitter are reporting they received auto-calls from the Braintree school department about school closing tomorrow. Will update when confirmed.

No school Friday for BPS: http://braintree.patch.com/articles/no-school-in-braintree-friday-due-to-blizzard.

Thayer Academy will be closed tomorrow.

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UPDATE: Archbishop Williams High School will be closed on Friday. No word yet on Braintree Public Schools, Thayer Academy, St. Francis or B.A.S.E.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Mayor Joseph Sullivan commented on the parking ban planned for Friday and Saturday:

“We are anticipating our first major snow event in nearly two years," Sullivan said. “I would ask that all Braintree residents ensure that their vehicles are off the road so that we may clear our streets and make them safe for travel. Moreover, I would encourage people to stay off the roads if possible so that we may do our job more effectively.”

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UPDATE: From Athletic Director Michael Denise:

"The MIAA Boys Gymnastics State Championship and Wrestling Division 1 South Sectional Tournament have been postponed for this weekend.

The MIAA Boys Gymnastics State Championship will take place on Friday, February 15th, at Braintree High School, 7 pm start. 

The Wrestling Division 1 South Sectional Tournament will be held at Braintree High School on Saturday, February 16th, at Braintree High School, 9:30 a.m."

ALSO:

2/9 Boys JV Ice Hockey – No Rescheduled Date as of yet

2/9 Girls V Ice Hockey vs. Weymouth – No Rescheduled Date as of yet

2/9 Boys V Ice Hockey vs. Weymouth – Rescheduled to 2/11 at Zapustas Arena, 5:40 pm

2/9 Girls Varsity Cheer Cancelled – Medway Invitational

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UPDATE: The town has announced a parking ban because of the storm:

"Due to the winter storm with blizzard conditions expected, the Town of Braintree is enforcing a town-wide on-street parking ban from 12 noon Friday, February 8, 2013 until 6:00 pm Saturday, February 9, 2013.

The Braintree Police Department and the Department of Public Works will enforce this parking ban. Thank you for understanding and for your cooperation."

ALSO from the town:

"Capitol Waste will pick up on schedule Friday, February 8. Please remember to have trash at curb by 7 am. Thank you."

AND:

BostonHeraldHS ‏@BostonHeraldHS

State Boys Gymnastics is postponed to Friday, February 15 at Braintree High School (7:00 p.m.) @sportsgirlkat

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See a tree down next door? See a flooded road? Please use this story on Braintree Patch to help communite with your community and neighbors.
 
As we hunker down to ride out the blizzard, we want to make sure that Braintree stays connected. For live updates during the storm, be sure to download our App for your smartphone or tablet and 'like' Braintree Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

As you use social media, we’ll make sure the information is added to this central article. If you see damaged wires or a tree down, please alert authorities and then let us know so we can help as well. You can comment below or email joseph.markman@patch.com.

Important numbers and websites:

• In an emergency, dial 911
• Police Department: 781-794-8600
• Fire Department: 781-843-3600
• DPW: 781-843-8097
• Comcast: 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278)
• Verizon: 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966)
• BELD: 781-348-2353
• Braintree Emergency Management Agency: 781-794-8188
• MBTA Service updates